Review: Origin (Lux #4) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: Origin (Lux #4)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Yes
Finished or ARC: Finished
Source: I think I won this, but then again, it's been awhile since I got it.

Goodreads: Daemon will do anything to get Katy back.
After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he’s facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure.

All Katy can do is survive.

Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don’t seem entirely crazy, but the group’s goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen?

Together, they can face anything. 

But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on? 

And will they even be together?

Review:
Like all of Jennifer L. Armentrout's books, Origin is full of kick ass characters, awesome action scenes, hilarious comedy, romance that makes your blood sing, and a hot boy. In Origin, Katy is trapped in Daedalus's labs, forced to do whatever they say to stay alive. Daemon is on the hunt for Katy and rescue her from Daedalus. I was surprised that Daemon's quest to rescue Katy wasn't longer. Sure, we had a few chapters of Katy in the labs, but Daemon's "rescuing" her, as in, just getting to her, wasn't very long. Like maybe two, three chapters. I was expecting some sort of huge obstacle, like Daemon's siblings or Matthew. But nope.

I really admire that Katy didn't crack from all the crap Daedalus made her do. Sure, there were some things I thought she'd crack under, but nope, she stayed strong and powered through it with Daemon. And unlike Beth, she didn't step aside when shit got real and the fighting started. Daemon was just Daemon in all of this. Fighting for who he loves, being a badass, and sassy.

I really liked Asher. At first I thought he was going to become another Blake: an unnecessary love triangle. Thank you Jennifer for not doing that! Asher is serious, but can be funny when the opportunity presents itself. I hated it when he said he has never been to an Olive Garden. That is a scandal in itself! I'm happy that he didn't on Katy. That would have made me hate him.

While the characters are great, and the plot itself is good, there is one thing that you should know before going into this book: it's full of cliches. Like when the bad guys say they aren't "bad", and that the good guys aren't actually "good". Or the classic cliche: the world may end tomorrow, let's do something crazy! (I'm not saying what it is, but think about Vegas.) I didn't like them, but of course, the awesomeness that is Daemon made up for it.

The romance in this book is.....something. While there is sweet moments between Daemon and Katy, there are some of their "moments" that I could have done without all the details...or just without in general. If you've read the book already, then you know what I'm talking about. I get that it does happen with teens theses days (I am still one, and except it from my friends, but still...), but some things don't need to be....as detailed as Daemon's and Katy's was. I'm not saying their sex s was graphic with explicit detail, but there was just enough that I thought it was a bit too much. But you be your own judge.

The ending....CLIFFHANGER! I hated it. Let's put it this way: I wish there was more of an indication on what is going to happen in the next book. Of course, Opposition has already come out, so I need to get it soon.

Rating:

Cover: 

I'm sorry, but as much as I love Daemon, this picture of him sucks. He doesn't look like he's going to kill someone. He looks like he's hungry. And honestly! If you are going to show his abs, don't cover them with a stupid jacket! I also don't like the background. I think there should be more flames if you are going to burn down a city.

Read More

Review: Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout

 

Goodreads:

No one is like Daemon Black.
When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.
But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.
After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.
Together we’re stronger... and they know it.

 

 

CONTAINS SPOILERS

 

Review:

Source: Amazon

 

For starters, it's great to finally be doing a review again. And I finished it! Defiance I stopped because I didn't have time to read and I really, really wanted to read this book. Eventually I'll go back to Defiance and try again, but not soon. Anyway, to the review!

 

Plot: To start off, everyone, including me, probably had high expectations for this book. Mine were mostly met, just not all. The book was amazing overall: funny, suspenseful, romantic, but 5% wasn't doing it for me. I say this because for the first third of the book, I was excited that Dawson was back. I was curious to see what would happen. It was obvious that he would try to run off and find Beth, but thanks to Katy, he didn't. Then in the middle, it started to get boring. What happened was essential to the plan for busting out Beth from the prison, but it just seemed to drag on and on.

 

I guess I want to say it was all the real life drama going on along with the training and the battles. Dee and Katy were still not talking; Blake was back; Dawson was all depressed; and Katy was trying to get Daemon to say 'I love you' while also find time to have sex. I found all this tiring. Friend drama, boy drama, and boyfriend drama. What more could fit in? Oh, parent issues. Mom's missing the bad guy. A lot of typical drama issues. I love the over idea of each, but I felt that were just dragged along behind the actual plot.

 

I'll get to the ending in a sec.

 

Characters: Most are still the same. Katy is still strong head and can hold her own to Daemon, though I think she's grown tougher. Daemon, well, he's the same, but with a sweeter side if you know what I mean. Blake, I hate that he's back, but he did make the book interesting, just not in a good way.

 

The rest of the characters, well, most of the time they were sad or angry because they were missing Adam or wanting to kill Blake. I don't blame them. But the one character that did get under my skin was Dee. I get it that she misses Adam, but taking it out on Katy for the whole book was irritating. I get that she thought Katy lying to her about everything was horrible and that if the truth was told, Adam would still be alive, but it's not all Katy's fault. Most of it was Daemon's. And looking at it from Katy's side, she had the right. The consequences if things didn't turn out as thought would have been horrible if Dee knew. But the one thing that really had me confused was why Dee decided to make up with Katy right before all of them went to save Beth. I think it was forced in a way--Katy could die and Dee would feel bad and all that crap. But I'm happy they did.

 

Romance: What really ticks me off is that 1) Katy said 'I love you' and it took Daemon forever to say it. 2) When he did say it, he said it in his original language, but during sex. 3) He said it in English at the end when the big climax happened and things went bad. Don't get me wrong, I loved the chemistry between the two and all the sweet-nothings scenes and do believe their love was real, but saying "I love you" for the first time, during sex, is just wrong. It should be before that. A little old fashioned, but don't you agree that today, when a guy says "I love you" during sex, he might just be saying it to get more sex?

 

I don't know if that's what you might think, but that's how I do. Daemon wasn't like that, thank goddness, but it was like every time he talked to Katy when they were alone and being intimate, he was always suggesting sex. It got annoying after he kept saying stuff like that over and over, but yet, the way he said it was funny. One thing I love about Daemon.

 

Ending: Holy crap, did not see it coming. The whole impact on what happened made me go back and reread what I read to make sure I read it correctly. The ending defiantly made me want to scream. When you read it, predictable might go through your head, but not for who was captured. I figured it would be one the other shoe. I say this because I peaked at the ending---just the last sentence! But then I read it and was in shocked. To put it plainly, it was horrible.

 

Future: Origin comes out this July, though I don't know why it's not named after a stone. Funny.

 

Quotes:

 

"The bouncer winked at Daemon as he handed him what looked like a business card. 'Ya not normally my type, but I can make an exception.'" pg. 268

 

"You and that damn pen." Katy. pg 290

 

Best part of the book: During a fight, Katy's laptop got fried (again) and later on, Daemon bought her a new one. I loved this scene. Wish I had a boyfriend that did that. *Sigh

 

Rating:                   Cover:

 

The cover wasn't that bad. My only problem with it is that Katy kinda looks drunk.

 

Ending:

 

 

Up Next:

Stealing Parker

 

 

Keep On Reading!

 

 

 

 

 

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Review: Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

 

WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

 

Goodreads:

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.
Something worse than the Arum has come to town…
The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.
But then everything changes…
I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him?

And what does the DOD want from them—from me?
No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…

 

Review:

 

Aliens are hot. Period. This book made them even better. Onyx is a wave of hot alien action. This book is an amazing sequel to Obsidian. I loved it! But despite the hotness that is Daemon, there were some things that I wasn't a fan of.

 

Plot: The whole plot was well done. It wasn't just a straight line plot; there were little blimps of some other plots. They were mostly on the romantic side of things, but still: plots.

 

There was a major betrayal in this book. You could see it coming form half way through the book and the ending was predictable. But the person who did the betrayal is someone who you wish didn't do it. I kinda screamed, but I also wanted to hit this person on the head. His back story was a bit unoriginal too.

 

I've read a lot of books in my life. And in those books, they all seem to have something similar. The betrayal, the guy trying to get the girl but she's stubborn, and the boyfriend of the mom is the bad guy out for the heroine. This is the only thing I had a problem with. A lot of YA books have these elements. But otherwise, Daemon is still hot. :D

 

Characters: Katy and Daemon have grown since they've bonded. Stronger, nicer, smarter. Basically, the first book characteristics enhanced. The only character I didn't like was Dr. Will. Evil.

 

Romance: If you read the last book, then you know Katy starts playing hard to get. I didn't like this. Who wouldn't want Daemon? And the thing with Blake. I loved seeing Daemon's jealousy come out, but I don't think Blake was necessary in the romance department; more of the plot area.

 

Ending: Hated it! I'm happy with what happeend to the Blacks, but overall, I hated the ending.

 

Future: Opal comes out this December on the 11th!

 

Quotes:

 

All of chapter 16. Daemon is sooooo sweet here.

 

"'That's all I ever need to hear.' (Daemon)

"'Those three words?'

"'Always those three words.'" pg. 337

 

 

Rating & Cover:

 

 

Ending:

 

 

*Bought this book. Paperback

 

 

Keep On Reading!

 

 

Up Next:

I have started this, but I haven't gotten through it much due to school.

Could be awhile for this review.

 

 

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Review: Obsidian

WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

Goodreads:

Starting over sucks.
When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.
And then he opened his mouth.
Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens.
The hot alien living next door marks me.
You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.
If I don't kill him first, that is.

Review:

When I first hear about this book, I had my reserves about it. It didnt' sound interesting, and the Half-Blood series didn't sound interesting either. It was like Twilight, but aliens. But then, this book blew up the entire blogovsphere, and then I read more about it, and when I learned that I won it, I screamed. This book....wow..... a lot of words could describe it, but just wow. If you havent' read this yet, go out and get your hands on a copy soon. Five star right here.

Plot: So, Katy, our main character, moves next door to Daemon and his sister, Dee, and because Dee wants to be friends, she gets mixed up in to all of their alien mojo. Soon, she gets this trace accidently put on her by Daemon when he saved her life. Now the Arum, evil aliens, are trying to find them and are close to finding Daemon and the rest of the Luxen in the area. They have to get the trace off of her before they kill every Luxen and her.

So, I love the idea of these aliens. Can control light, are made of light, and move other things around. This is the first alien book I've read, and I was very happy it was. And instead of the Government not knowing about them, they pay for everything they do! Top secret. And since it was good vs. evil in this book, there had to be the evil ones, the Arum. Oh, and after watching a lot of sci-fi crap for years with my dad, it was nice to read about a hot alien. :D Oh, and I can't tell you how many times the gang got close to being safe, but then somehow it got screwed up. Twists and turns and all their glory. With it came angry, frustration, romance, and some funny arguments that I loved to reread. Yes, this book will make you laugh. Daemon mostly.

The only problem I had with this book is that it kinda reminded me of Twilight. New girl in town; falls for the wrong guy, who is a paranormal, supernatural being; sister who tries to be social with others; kinda overprotective of her; being with her endangers her and everyone around her....Blah blah blah. The only difference is that their love isn't that crappy insta-love. Sure, they admit that they like each other, but they aren't together. Daemon tries to tell her he wants to be with her and that the bond isn't why. Yeah....but I still loved the book.

Characters: The characters are hilarious. All of us know Daemon, the arrogant, hot, and somewhat of a jerk, is, well, hot. Dee is very up beat, wanting a normal friend for once. She hates that they have to hide, but they know it's for the better. But Katy, now Katy, she has to be one of my favorite characters in YA ever. Why?

Katy is a book blogger just like me and everyone out there. She loves books. She's also determined and strong and doesn't take crap from Daemon, no matter what he does. She is me as a fictional character. I honestly wish I was her. Sure, I don't want her fried computer, but I do want her life. I already have the small town, but I would love to live next to aliens (though sometimes I think I do). She's hilarious, mostly when she's mad at Daemon. The comedy between them never ended.

Romance: Katy and Daemon are attracted to each other. They can't be together because of the whole alien thing and the Arum. There was a lot of tension, teasing, and arguments between these two that it wasn't hard to hope that they get together in the end. And their scenes together when they weren't killing each other, one can only wish that those moments happened to them.

Ending: It was a happy one. Except the little twist that happened to Katy. Now, I can't wait for Onyx. And I got a sneak peek of it in the back of this book. I loved the first two chapters.

Other thing I want to point out: The scenes in Daemon's POV, I LOVED IT!! Mostly Chapter 8 and 28. They were so sweet. And if you go to Goodreads to the list where is list all the books in the Lux series, you can find Chapter 26, the hot and steamy scene, in his POV. Link is right here.

Future: Onyx is coming out this August!

Quotes:

"'I like to watch you blush.' His voice barely above a murmur as his thumb traced circles on my cheek." pg. 75 

Rating, Cover, & Ending:

I debated on whether or not to give The Big Kahuna Award to this book, but the Twilight thing is kinda bring the book down for me, so they just get five shells. But it's still a favorite of mine. :D

And Daemon on the cover, yeah, who wouldn't want to own that piece of hunk.

Here's the other cover.

*I won this book. No review necessary.

Keep On Reading!

Up Next:

Already started it. Not far into it, but it's good so far. :D

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